Digvijay Singh has battled the BJP for years. But this time his opponent is the formidable Uma Bharti, who 20 years ago used to visit Singh's house to give religious discourses.
Bharti has accused Singh of neglecting the state, harbouring corruption and for favouring Subhash Yadav, an Indore-based businessman.
"Subhash Yadav is my friend, I have no business relations with him," says Singh, "Umaji says I spoke to him from an unlisted number, but I have no unlisted number. My numbers are in the BSNL directory!"
Singh has filed a defamation suit against Bharti for filing baseless charges.
"Rakshas… Ravana,"
"These are the names that she refers to me with -- do I look like one? She's a sanyasin and look at the language she uses."